Ticking away

Well, it's the last day of October already.  Clocks went back last weekend which mean I had to adjust our 2 'manual' clocks i.e. those with old fashioned hands.  I wonder if we will ever get rid of those?  Anyway, the kitchen clock needed moving but in doing som the clock unit think at the back decided to come unstuck somehow to the detriment of the whole clock working thing. I set to work with a knife (to take the hands off) and some supglue to stick the unit back onto it's mounting.  Sticking went OK, hands back on but I noticed last night it's stuck at 7.30, so I guess my hands need putting on a bit differently.  I have previous with hands. In an earlier life I was an instrument mechanic where some of my time was spent calibrating gauges of the aforesaid handed variety.  Putting the pointers back on the exact position was fraught with difficulty and not one of my favourite jobs.  I guess they're all digital now.  I wish my clocks were.
Dark evenings are not my favourite time of the year. If that makes sense, which it doesn't, but I'm sure you knoo what I mean.  Those people that say Autumn is their favourite time of year are obviously retired ir work shifts.  Travelling to/from work in the dark is decidedly depressing.
I'm trying to shake off the winter/autumn blues with a resurgent running regime.  After £60 well spent at a physio who found out my running style was causing my knee issues I have had for over 2 years, I have managed to gradually increase my running distance with no adverse affect on my knee at all.  Evidently I was pointing my right foot outwards, landing on the heel and rolling inwards (pronation I think it's called) causing all sorts or nasty twisting in my knee resulting in subluxation pain.  It was basically moving my kneecap a little causing it to move in the wrong place.  Suffice to say it flipping hurt.  The goods news is that with me consciously twisting my leg so that I land in a straight line it doesn't hurt at all, and that is/was the best news this month.  I managed just over 8 miles last night.

Frogs..

Well, here I am again.  It's a bit of a surprise to me anyway if not anyone else.  I think of myself as a 'morning person', whatever that means.  In my book, it's someone who likse to get things done in the morning, an 'eat a frog before breakfast' sort of person.  Reality is probably different, it's just that I want to get messy jobs out of the way as early as possible so I can have an easy day.  In actual fact, I probably do my best work at night.  Take last night for instance, I even laid in bed reading about firewalls, contemplating what we should buy for TEL.  Mind you, it didn't really help, simply reinforced what I was already thinking that everyone has their own subjective opinion based on what they have bought themselves.  I mean, you're not going to say "I bought a Firkin 3487 because it's rubbish" are you?  More likely, it will be "The Firkin 3487 is absolutely brilliant, and by coincidence I happen to have one".
I like to think I can make an informed decision, but usually it's down to cost.  Can't see any reason why this decision will be different.  Anyway, must get on with creating a spreadsheet demonstrating what you get for your money to aid the decision making.

First cut is the deepest..

First, let me explain.  I often felt like I should be writing a diary, but never ever got round to it.  Alright, I added a few notes in an appointments book for a couple of years, but not anything that could be called a diary.  We used to write diaries at school - 'What I did last night' was the starter for 10.  Of course, it would never be 'what I did yesterday' because then the teacher would realise what we thought of her/him.  I don't remember which teacher insisted on diaries, all I remember is that it was quite a problem finding something to put in them each day.
Which brings me back to this.  I don't suppose it is a diary as such, although I suppose you could say it was.  I guess we'll have to see how it pans out.  If it goes the way of most of my whims, it will be just that - a whim, petering out in a few days/weeks/months until it's just a distant memory of 'why the heck did I do that?'.

To make sure I have some pertinent, recent information, I should write about my Tuesday night incident on my bike.  This is the real reason I'm starting this, but hopefully I'll get that down later.
The bike incident.  I was whizzing down Nettleton Hill - the one that joins up to the Viking Way is how I always describe it if I get a puzzled look, although that often gets the same response.  If you don't know it, it's one of the steepest roads in the Lincolnshire Wolds, which might make you think it's almost flat, but I was up to 38mph (according to my Garmin 310XT - other sports watches are available) when a red tractor and trailer appeared from the slight right hand curve of the hill.  Brakes went on, shudder started, brakes went off a little - phew, I can get past. Eeek! as I slotted past the tractor, another tractor and trailer coming out of a farm track - you know, the one where gravel always runs out of when it's rained a bit, and it quickly dawned on me that I needed to apply the brakes again.  The biggest problem with this was that I was running on gravel thrown off the verge by the recent rain and my braking was having almost no effect.  With almost no thinking time, I made the decision that the only way out of this was to try and get up the track the tractor was coming out of and hope there was enough room to slow down.  Unfortunately, the track was just that - a track and turned at almost 90 degrees, so although F1 cars might have benefited, my skinny tyres were useless both turning and stopping me.  At the last moment before I hit the fence, I must have gripped that little bit harder on the brakes, I crashed to the ground and the next moment I was lying there wondering what the flip had happened.  I stood up totally unscathed save for a small cut on my shin.  My bike was upside down a couple of yards up the track, and also unscathed as far as I could tell.  I felt very relieved.
The tractor driver came ambling towards me (he wasn't a light man) with a concerned look, and we both patted ourselves on the back for coming out of it in one piece.

So, my conclusion?  Don't try and go fast down this hill (without someone in front).